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The Ottawa Citizen Thursday 16 April 1998 Washington: Information technology, including business on the Internet, is growing twice as fast as the overall economy, the U.S. Commerce Department said yesterday. In the latest look at the impact of advances in telecommunications and computing, the department also found that the industry employs 7.4 million workers, some of whom earn among the highest salaries in the U.S. Traffic on the Internet has doubled every 100 days and Internet commerce among business will likely surpass $300 billion U.S. by 2002, the report concluded. Other findings: ~ The Internet is growing faster than all other technologies that have preceded it. Radio existed for 38 years before it had 50 million listeners, and TV took 13 years to reach that mark. The Internet crossed the line in only four years. ~ In 1994, a mere 3 million people were connected to the internet. By the end of 1997, more than 100 million were using it. ~ Workers in the information-technology industry earn an average of US$46,000 annually, compared with an average of US$28,000 for the private sector overall. Workers in the software and service industries are the highest wage- earners, at almost US$56,000 annually. "Information technology is truly driving the US economy - more than previous estimates had revealed", said Rhett Dawson, president of the Information Technology Industry Council, a Washington-based trade group. The report recommends governments stay out of the growing industry, saying electronic commerce shouldn't be "burdened with extensive regulation, taxation, or censorship." Government instead should provide legal frameworks for business on the Internet, and rules should result from "private collective action, not government regulation, whenever possible", the report said. The Commerce Department said consumers must be getting more comfortable making online credit-card purchases: 10 million people in the United States and Canada had purchased something on the World Wide Web by the end of 1997, an increase from 4.7 million people six months earlier. The report also notes a shortage of skilled workers and recommends that students be better prepared. "Countries that have an insufficient supply of skilled workers will see high- skilled, high-paying jobs migrate to countries that can supply the needed talent", the report said. Earlier this month, a U.S. Senate committee approved a bill to raise the number of H-1B visas, which alllow high-skilled workers to remain in the U.S. for up to 6 years. The legislation came after computer companies argued that the shortage of talent would dampen the industry's explosive growth. Organized labour has complained that high-tech companies are trying to guarantee themselves a constant supply of foreign recruits to hold down salaries. The Associated Press janet paterson 50/10 - sinemet/selegiline/prozac almonte/ontario/canada - [log in to unmask]